LAUSR

Abstract There is extensive evidence for ionospheric effects associated with earthquake-related atmospheric disturbances. Although the existence of earthquake precursors is controversial, one suggested method of detecting possible earthquake precursors and tsunamis is by observing possible ionospheric effects of atmospheric waves generated by such events. To study magneto-acoustic-gravity waves in the atmosphere, we have derived a general dispersion relation including the effects of the Earth's magnetic field. This dispersion relation can be used in a general atmospheric ray tracing program to calculate the propagation of magneto-acoustic-gravity waves from the ground to the ionosphere. The presence of the Earth's magnetic field in the ionosphere can radically change the dispersion properties of the wave. The general dispersion relation obtained here reduces to the known dispersion relations for magnetoacoustic waves and acoustic-gravity waves in the corresponding particular cases. The work described here is the first step in achieving a generalized ray tracing program permitting propagation studies of magneto-acoustic-gravity waves.